• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.12
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• pp.1614-1623
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• 2010

Bacteria were isolated from roots of sugarcane varieties grown in the fields of Punjab. They were identified by using API20E/NE bacterial identification kits and from sequences of 16S rRNA and amplicons of the cpn60 gene. The majority of bacteria were found to belong to the genera of Enterobacter, Pseudomonas, and Klebsiella, but members of genera Azospirillum, Rhizobium, Rahnella, Delftia, Caulobacter, Pannonibacter, Xanthomonas, and Stenotrophomonas were also found. The community, however, was dominated by members of the Pseudomonadaceae and Enterobacteriaceae, as representatives of these genera were found in samples from every variety and location examined. All isolates were tested for the presence of five enzymes and seven factors known to be associated with plant growth promotion. Ten isolates showed lipase activity and eight were positive for protease activity. Cellulase, chitinase, and pectinase were not detected in any strain. Nine strains showed nitrogen fixing ability (acetylene reduction assay) and 26 were capable of solubilizing phosphate. In the presence of 100 mg/l tryptophan, all strains except one produced indole acetic acid in the growth medium. All isolates were positive for ACC deaminase activity. Six strains produced homoserine lactones and three produced HCN and hexamate type siderophores. One isolate was capable of inhibiting the growth of 24 pathogenic fungal strains of Colletotrichum, Fusarium, Pythium, and Rhizoctonia spp. In tests of their abilities to grow under a range of temperature, pH, and NaCl concentrations, all isolates grew well on plates with 3% NaCl and most of them grew well at 4 to $41^{\circ}C$ and at pH 11.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.254-259
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• 2006

Bacillus spp. isolated from mushroom medium wastes were evaluated for their biocontrol potentials on control of Sclerotinia rot of lettuce. The Bacillus isolates were more effectively obtained from waste suspension when directly added into nutrient agar(NA) medium than plating on the agar medium. Totally 42 isolates obtained from the wastes B23 and B42 showed highest antifungal activity against eight fungal pathogens such as Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Rhizoctonia solani, Pythium ultimum, Phytophthora capsici, Fusarium oxysporum, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, Cladosporium cucumerinum, and Botrytis cinerea and B23 and B42 were finally selected for further studies. Optimal concentration of the isolates was $10ml(10^7cfu/ml)$ to suppress the Sclerotinia rot of lettuce. Supplements such as starch, glycerol, and egg-yolk successfully maintained the bacterial population for 30 days in vitro and increased bio-control potentials against the disease. The bacterial isolate B23 alone showed 72% control value, furthermore it presented 95% control value when supplemented with 0.2% of starch, glycerol, and egg-yolk. The promising Bacillus isolates B23 and B42 were identified as Brevibacillus brevis and Bacillus stearothermophillus, respectively, based on morphological and physiological characteristics according to API database.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.104-109
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• 2007

Pink root disease of onion, a known worldwide constraint upon onion production, significantly reduces crop levels in the main Korea cultivation area. In order to examine the effect of flooding on incidence of pink root disease caused by Pyrenochaeta terrestris and on onion growth and on populations of soil fungi, field experiments were conducted during two seasons, 2003/04 and 2004/05 at Onion Research Institute. Populations of soil fungi from fields were assayed on selective media. Flooding treatment was effective in reducing populations of P. terrestris, Pythium spp., and Rhizoctonia sp. in soil; fungal populations in soils flooded for 90 days were reduced to 1/2 to 1/3 of those in non-flooded soils. In nursery bed, protective activities of soils flooded for over 60 days were 93.5 to 99.2% and their pink root incidences were less than 5%, which were 1/11 to 1/18 of that in control. Increased yield of onion bulbs was associated with control of soil borne pathogenic fungi by flooding treatments. As flooding period was prolonged, bulb grade showed the tendency to increase. Soil flooding for over 60 days resulted in effective disease control, facilitated accurate planning of plant population in the field, extension of the growing-season and consequently higher yields of better quality.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.271-277
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• 1993

An antagonistic bacteria was isolated from rhiaosphere of pepper and corn and identified as Bacillus (B.) subtilis. These B. subtilis B-5 was transformed and marked with the plasmid pCPP4 which possess neomycine resistan. gene. The marked stranins showed growth inhibition to Rhizoctonia (R.) solani, Fusarium (F.) solani, and F. oxysporum in vitro, and were used in studying growth promoting effects on sesame and cabbage. All the identified strains utilize glucose, sucrose, fructose, lactose, mannitol and sorbitol as carbon source, but not rhamnose, and the marked strains also showed characteristics similar to wild-type strains. Germination rate of chinese cabbage and sesame seeds was increased by about 10% or more in the plot to which these strains were inoculated and the effect was higher in soil than in petri dish. The early growth promoting effects of these strains appeared higher, as compared with control plot, in the plots to which B. subtilis B-5 and pathogenic fungi was inoculated together. When the marked strains, B. subtilis B-5NEOr, were inoculated in the rhizosphere of chinese cabbage and sesame with $1.1{\times}10^8CFU/g$ dry soil, the number of inoculated strain was decreased slowly to the level of $10^5{\sim}10^6CFU/g$ dry soil after 4 weeks and the number of Pseudomonas spp. maintanied the level of $10^5CFU/g$ dry soil throught total period, but the number of fungi was decreased rapidly from the early level of $10^8CFU/g$ dry soil to $10^3CFU/g$ dry soil after 4 weeks.